


Sight Unseen

by AXEe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex and Astra are useless when it comes to relationship advice, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blind Kara, F/F, F/M, Sighted James
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-15 18:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13037028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Kara Danvers has been completely blind for nearly twelve years if not longer.   The result of an accident that took the lives of her parents.ORMy first real Karaolsen fic





	1. The Park Bench

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ReadingIsEverything](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadingIsEverything/gifts).



> A gift for a friend.
> 
> For some reason, this idea's been bouncing around in my head, on and off, for a while now, I'm not really sure _why_ , possibly due to the fact that I'm partially blind myself (I know, half blind _and_ autistic, double trouble :=).
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy :=)

******

It was the clacking sound that first alerted James. At first he thought that there was something wrong with camera, but no, it was fine. He was still frowning at the camera when something gently tapped at his foot

“Excuse me,”

Blinking, James followed the white tipped cane now resting against his boot up to an arm, and finally up to the arm’s owner’s face. Said cane and arm belonged to a pretty young blonde dressed in a light shirt and slacks, a pair of thick dark sunglasses adorning her face

“Sorry,” the woman apologized “but is anyone sitting here?”

“Oh, no, sorry, go ahead” James replied. As he watched, somewhat fascinated, the woman reached out, groping around until she found the edge of the bench, then, following the line of it down to the armrest and seat, awkwardly but skillfully, lowered herself down to sit next to him

“Sorry,” she apologized, a pretty blush tainting her features as she folded her cane up and set it down in her lap “just it’s a hot today” she explained, fanning herself

“It is” James agreed as he reloaded the camera

“Sorry,” she held out a hand “I’m Kara” she introduced herself

“James,” James replied, shaking her hand. He frowned, his curiosity getting the better of him “I’m sorry,” he began “please don’t take this the wrong way. But, are you…?”

“Blind?” she asked with another pretty blush and a giggle “yes, I am”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” James apologized, feeling his face heat up “didn’t mean to pry”

“No, no,” she waved a hand “its fine, you can ask” she explained

“So, how long have you been blind?” he asked

“About twelve years,” she explained “there was an accident, a fire. I made it, but my parents…” she trailed off

“I’m sorry,” James apologized “didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories”

“No, no, its fine,” she repeated, smiling brightly “I was adopted by a great foster family, the Danvers,” she explained “and I just found that my aunt, who I thought died in that fire too is still alive”

“That’s great news” James smiled

“It is,” she agreed. She frowned “sorry, but why am I telling you all this? I barely know you” she wondered

James shrugged

“Maybe I’m just a good listener,” he muttered “and if its any consolation,” he added “but, I lost my father when I was about your age too” he explained

“I’m sorry,” Kara apologized “what happened?”

“He was a solider,” James explained “and, one day, he just didn’t come home”

“I’m sorry” she reached out, feeling around on the bench for him, before finally, awkwardly, resting a hand on his side

“Thank you” James replied

A buzzing sound broke the air

“ _Text from Alex_ ” a mechanical voice announced

“Oh sorry” Kara dug around in her pockets, pulling out a phone

“ _Text from Alex. ‘Where are you, we’re supposed to have lunch you dork’_ ”

Kara smirked

“Sorry,” she apologized “that’s my sister,” she unfolded her cane and stood up “uh, do you which way ‘Jo’s Food Truck’ is?”

“Sure,” James nodded “I can help you there if you’d want” he offered, not sure if she’d accept, he knew that blind people were more than perfectly capable of functioning independently

“Would you?” she asked “I’d hate to ask but there’s so many people out today”

“No, no, it’s fine,” James quickly gathered his stuff and stood up, gently taking her arm “it’s not far,” he explained as he led her down the path towards the food truck “there we are. Just turn about half a turn to you left and you’re there”

She grinned “Cool. Thanks”

“No problem” James replied

“Kara!” a brunette quickly came out of the crowd and lightly tapped Kara on the shoulder, and Kara’s attention was quickly diverted to who James assumed was Alex

The sister he reminded himself, not ‘lover’…


	2. The Not-a-date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to see people are liking this :=), so here's a short double update! Enjoy! :=)

******

“So who was that guy with you?” Alex asked

“What guy?” Kara asked

Alex sighed

“Kara…”

“His name’s ‘James’ and he was just some guy I met” Kara dismissed

“Really?” Alex asked in ‘that’ tone. The one she used when she knew that Kara was lying out her butt

“Alex, I probably won’t ever see him again,” Kara objected “so give it up”

“I don’t know,” Alex shrugged, even though Kara couldn’t see that “he seemed to like you”

Kara stopped mid-chew

“He did?” she asked eagerly “I, I mean did he now? That’s, that’s interesting”

Alex laughed

“You should have asked him out” she advised

“Yeah,” Kara sighed, looking morose “too late now”

“Oh I don’t know,” Alex chuckled “he’s right behind you”

Kara sat up straighter

“You better not be lying to me” she warned

“No, she’s not” James’ voice said from behind her. Turning, Kara felt her heart to a funny little skip, what was it that Winn had said? You’d met that special someone and it would be like ‘ka-pow’? That was how he described meeting Lucy anyway. Of course with her it had literally been ‘ka-pow’ since she’d been the teacher of a self-defense class and had summarily wiped the floor with him.

“James, hi” Kara cringed and hoped she didn’t look or sound too eager to see him again

“Hi,” he chuckled “uh, I think you left your phone back on the bench” something heavy was gently set down on the table

“Yeah, that’s your phone,” Alex confirmed with a tried sigh “Kara, I keep telling you to put your phone back in your pocket when you’re done with it,” she exclaimed “what if you lost it? What then?”

“Sorry,” Kara mumbled “oh, uh James is this Alex, my sister” she introduced

“Hi,” Kara could hear Alex cringe “sorry, Alex Danvers”

“James Olsen,” James replied “uh, Kara,” he began “listen…would you be interested in doing any photography?”

“Photography?” Kara asked, confused

“Oh, sorry. Let me explain, I’m a photographer and I was wondering if you’d be interested in posing for a new picture book I’m doing” he explained

“Oh” Kara frowned

“Its not porn or anything,” James added quickly “its all professional. Here,” he held out a card to Alex “that’s my business card; the web address is on the back. Look it up and get in touch with me if you’re interested”

As he walked away Alex assessed him and then looked down at the card, pulling out her phone

“Alex?” Kara questioned

“One second,” Alex mumbled as she Googled James Olsen “ha, I’ll be damned,” she exclaimed “he’s ‘Jimmy Olsen’.”

“Jimmy…? Jimmy Olsen?” Kara gaped “the, the, the one who won that Pulitzer for all those expose photos of Lord Tech?”

“That’s him,” Alex chuckled. Kara felt something being passed into her hand, the card she realized as she took note of the texture of the paper “you should _totally_ take him up on that offer” Alex told her…


	3. Not Helping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Astra are absolutely no help whatsoever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short triple update! :=)

******

The coffee table was exactly four steps from the dinning table.

Kara knew this because she’d been pacing the length of carpet between those two pieces of furniture for the last five minutes

“Kara, please, sit down,” Astra pleaded “you’re making me dizzy!”

“What do I do?” Kara moaned “do, do I call him?”

“I don’t know!” Astra threw her hands up in frustration and flopped back onto the couch with a groan. She loved her niece dearly, had been grateful for Alex’s family to take her in, and loved that she had been welcomed back by Kara after the falling out that she and Alura had had (the fact that she'd fallen in love with Alex before she found out that she was Kara's sister notwithstanding), but _honestly_ Kara could so indecisive at times

“Help me!” Kara all but wailed

Astra threw a pillow over her head and _screamed_ into it just as Alex walked inside

“Kara still can’t decide I take it?” she quipped as Astra lowered the pillow

“Yes” Astra growled out

“Alex?” Kara turned the puppy dog eyes on, which despite being blind—or perhaps because of it—made them about ten times as effective as they would’ve been on others

“Oh no!” Alex held up her hands “back, you beast!” she proclaimed

“Alex!” Kara whined

“You’re choice, Kara,” Alex chuckled “you’re the one he asked out”

“But _did_ he though?” Astra suggested “he offered her a modeling job, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to date her”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Alex agreed “unlikely. But true”

“You two are _such_ a big help” Kara scowled and settled down into an armchair and sulked…


	4. Another Day, Another Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara gets a surprise

******

Kara woke up to a pounding sound. Sitting up in bed, it took her a moment to register that the pounding was not in her head but was actually from someone at her door.

“Coming!” she called out as she grabbed her robe—carefully draped over a chair as always—and slipped it on. Padding her way to the living room, skillfully avoiding bumping into the furniture due to years of practice and a good mental map of where everything was, she made it to the front door

“Who is it?” she asked

“Candy-gram!” two familiar voices called out cheerfully from the other side. Grinning, Kara quickly unlocked the door

“Hi guys” she grinned

“Hey” Winn grinned

“Sorry, did we wake you?” Lucy asked

“No, I was up,” Kara dismissed “come on in,” she invited, pulling the door open and letting them inside “so, what brings you two by?” she asked as she made her way to the kitchen and began to set up the coffee maker, scowling as she found that the scoop for the coffee grounds was not where it was supposed to be “shoot,” she sighed “can one of you guys help me find the scoop?” she asked

“Sure,, I got it,” Winn called out as his sneakers approached, softly squeaking on the linoleum in a similar—but separate tone—to Astra’s sneakers. Kara heard him clatter around for a few seconds, then the faucet turned on, and then something light, metallic and slightly damp was being gently set into her hand “there you go” Winn chuckled

“Thanks,” Kara sighed “whenever Aunt Astra makes coffee she always just leaves the scoop wherever” she complained good-naturedly as she dried the scoop

“Well you can’t really blame her,” Winn commented “after all, she remembers you from when you could still see” he pointed out

“Yeah,” Kara smirked bitter-sweetly, the burn scars around her eyes crinkling. It had been a back draft that had led to the loss of her sight, a burst of flame and microscopic pieces of glass that had not only scarred her corneas but had permanently scarred her retinas, leaving her completely blind. One doctor had, rather bluntly, stated that her retinas resembled ground meat now. A graphic, if appropriate, description.

“So anyway,” Kara picked up as she loaded the coffee maker and started it “what brings you two by?” she asked as she made her way back to the living room and lowered herself down next to Winn and Lucy

“Ah, well,” Winn began “a certain gaming buddy of mine mentioned that you got asked out. So…?”

Kara sighed, wondering what it would take to destroy Astra and Winn's friendship

“He offered me a modeling job; I don’t think that qualifies as ‘asking me out’,” she stood up as the coffee maker beeped “besides,” she added “Lucy used to date him, that’s going to make it all awkward and uncomfortable” she declared as she carefully filled two cups. The revelation that the handsome sounding guy who’d asked her out was also her best friend’s ex boyfriend had done nothing to ease Kara’s mind

“So?” Winn scoffed as she came back over and set the two steaming mugs down carefully in front of them “did you meet my last girlfriend?” he asked

“Which one?” Lucy asked “the one who screamed and threw a temper tantrum every time she didn’t get her way? Or the one who tried to frame you for theft?”

Kara smirked at the distinct _whumph_ of a pillow impacting and Lucy’s muffled grunt of surprise followed by a curse…

******

A few hours later, and Kara made her way into work. She’d been apprehensive when she’d first been hired, after all, what use could someone like Cat Grant have for a blind girl? But, as it turned out Ms. Grant wanted to get more readership and had hired Kara on the spot with a proposal for a series of articles to appear in the magazine’s lifestyle section about the blind community, which soon became a regular feature in the magazine.

Basically, Kara’s job was writing an about issues pertaining to the blind community in National City, such as restaurants, museum exhibits, food and wine, pretty much anything that could be enjoyed by the blind as well as those who could see. She would recommend which restaurant had the best service for blind customers, which museum had the best interactive exhibits, and pretty much whatever struck her fancy, which allowed her to explore the more expensive, high-class areas of the city that would normally have been off limits to her since she could never have afforded them if the magazine wasn't paying for it.

Her article, with the somewhat obvious title of, ‘ _If I Can Do It…_ ’, had been published weekly in the magazine for the past two years to great acclaim and had already landed her a permanent spot on the staff.

“Staff meeting now, Ker-ah. Chop-chop!” Cat Grant called out as she passed Kara with a whiff of perfume and the sharp click of high heels, and not for the first time did Kara wonder just what Cat Grant looked like. She’d heard that the other woman was considered beautiful by many, but seriously, what did she look like?

Shrugging off her thoughts, she unfolded her cane and slowly made her way towards the conference room

“Oh, Kara, do you need some help?” Eve Tessmacher, Cat’s long-suffering personal assistant asked. She’d been there far longer than Kara had, frequently cried from the stress of working under someone as demanding as Cat Grant, but somehow kept at it. Kara inwardly shook her head, she didn’t think she’d be capable of being Cat Grant’s assistant even if she could still see and had superpowers

“Thanks, Eve,” Kara smiled “just point me in the right direction” she felt Eve’s hands gently take her arm and gently lead her in the general direction of the conference room

“All right,” Ms. Grant was saying as Eve guided Kara over to an empty seat “our first order of business, we have a new photographer on staff. Everyone, say hello to James Olsen. Fresh from the _Daily Planet_ ”

There was a murmuring of hellos from the rest of staff, and Kara chuckled at the familiar name

“Thank you,” a familiar voice suddenly said “I just want to say that it’s great to be here”

Kara choked on her own spit. It _was_ him!

What did she do now?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-duh-duh! Cliffhanger! Also, anyone who can correctly guess who Winn's two exes are gets a cookie :=)


	5. Outcasts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! "Sight Unseen" is back, please enjoy! :=)

******

“ _…although the food was good, the service leaves much to be desired. The waiters are rather short with visually impaired customers. Personally, I recommend that visually impaired people go with a friend or relative who’s sighted to act as a mediator between them and the staff…_ ”

Kara sighed as she finished up her latest article. Restaurants were always a pain to review for her, since, while she wanted to bring attention to the blind community, she also didn’t want to be offensive to the restaurant itself or its owners or staff

Adding the final edits to the article, she sent it off to the printers for final review and printing and leaned back in her seat with a sigh, perking up as the sound of a chair rolled over to her desk

“Hi, Winn” she greeted

“Man! How do you do that?” he exclaimed

“You’re the only person in the office who’s bothered to get to know me,” she shrugged “let’s face it, not many people want to be friends with the blind girl”

“Yeah well I do,” Winn huffed indignantly “animals,” he scoffed. The chair creaked and her desk shook slightly, which meant that Winn was leaning back in his chair against her desk “so…what’d you think of the new guy?” he asked

“I don’t know, haven’t met him” Kara shrugged

Winn snorted

“That’s not what Astra says”

“Oh my god!” Kara threw up her hands “I am seriously going to separate you two! I swear! It’s bad enough that Alex and Lucy gossip about me! But it’s worse when you and Astra do it!”

“We’re not that bad,” Winn scoffed “so?” he probed “is it Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome?”

Kara sighed

“Yes,” she sighed “are we done? I have two more articles to write”

“They can wait,” Winn scoffed “you’re only reviewing a meeting of the city’s Council for the Blind and…a museum opening? Pretty boring if you ask me”

Kara sighed and finally turned her chair to face his general direction

“Two minutes” she warned

“Are you going to ask him out?” Winn asked point-blank

“What? No!” Kara wheezed for a good two seconds “no, no, he’s a coworker now, so just…no. It would have been nice but…no. I’ve seen what happens with office romances”

“Will you stop bringing that up?” Winn hissed “god! The only thing that would have worse about you catching me and Siobhan would be if you could see us,” he paused “actually, you know what, no, it’s better that you couldn’t see that. Much better”

Kara groaned

“Don’t want to know” she muttered…

******

“You’re seriously not to going to ask him out?” Alex demanded later that night after she and Astra had commandeered Kara’s couch and christened it ‘Fort Danvers’ for the foreseeable future “seriously?”

“Alex, I’m not doing that,” Kara shook her head so hard and fast that her glasses nearly fell off “no. I’ve seen how office romances turn out”

“If this is about Winn and Siobhan…,” Astra began “I’d like to point out that she was only using him as a sex toy”

Kara groaned as she stabbed at her box of takeout and viscously shoved a prawn into her mouth, chewing and swallowing with all the finesses and grace of a starving lion

“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?” Alex continued “seriously? Is something wrong? You meet a guy who actually shows an interest in you and you _don’t_ ask him out? Seriously?!”

“Alex, did you take your pills this morning?” Astra asked suddenly “you’re getting antsy”

“Yes!” Alex sighed, clearly annoyed

“The thorazine too?” Kara pressed “Alex?”

Silence

“Alex!” both women exclaimed

“Alex! You’re a paranoid schizophrenic! You _can’t_ miss a dose!” Astra exclaimed, and Kara could hear her rustling around in her bag “here!” the distinct sound of something rattling broke the air “take it!” Astra ordered

“I don’t like how they make me feel,” Alex complained even as she downed the pill, groaning as she swallowed “lord, aren’t we all just fine, normal people?” she grumbled “I’m mentally unstable, Kara’s blind, and Astra’s autistic”

“See?” Kara sighed “this is what I mean. James isn’t going to be able to deal with all of…,” she waved a hand in a vague, frantic, all-encompassing gesture “… _this_ ”

“Kara, you don’t know that,” Astra soothed “look, forget about us for a second. Think about yourself. You are a beautiful, sweet, kind, and _wonderful_ human being. You’ve never let your disability hold you back, neither have we, and by god we're not going to let you start now, so I'm only going to ask this once. Do you like him?”

Kara nodded, unable to speak

“Then ask him out, you dork” Alex chuckled

Kara took a breath

“OK,” she nodded "OK, I will" she promised and then wondered just what the hell was wrong with her…


	6. Lunch Date

******

Kara’s cane tapped against the floor in a steady rhythm. Unlike it’s owner’s heart.

Kara took a steadying breath as her cane knocked against a doorframe

“It’s open” a familiar voice called out

“Uh, James?” she called out

There was a clatter, like something heavy being set down, then

“Kara, hey!” James’ voice sounded cheerful, pleased to see her. That was good, she thought, if he was happy to see her then that made this a whole lot easier

“Hey,” she greeted “so, uh, you’re working here now, huh?” she asked “where I work. So, we’ll be working together. Not ‘together’ together! Obviously, but like coworkers, partners even,”

‘ _Mayday!_ ’ a voice in her head (which sounded a lot like Astra) suddenly yelled ‘ _abort, abort! Eject!_ ’

She took a breath

“Why don’t I start over,” she suggested “when you…offered me that modeling job, did you…?”

“Yeah,” James chuckled awkwardly “I was…I don’t what I was doing actually,” he shrugged, even though she couldn’t see that “just…I thought you were nice, and pretty, and…I couldn’t find away to ask you out properly” he explained

“So you _were_ asking me out?” Kara probed

“Yeah”

“OK,” Kara breathed a sigh of relief “that’s good”

“It is?” James asked, confused

“It is,” she confirmed. She took a breath and then said in a rush “wouldyougoouttolunchwithmetoday?Pleasesay‘yes’!”

James laughed, and it was good laugh, he wasn’t trying to be mean she could tell, he genuinely found her funny

“Sure” he said

“Really?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound too excited “great! So, uh…I’ll text you later today with the details? I still have the number you gave me”

“Sure” James replied

“OK,” Kara nodded, unable to keep the stupid grin off her face “cool”

“Cool”

“So, uh, lunch?”

“Lunch it is”

“Right,” Kara turned and, nearly running into the door, walked out into the hall and back towards the elevator “ka-pow” she muttered, grinning…

******

“ _So, you got a date today, huh?_ ”

Kara sighed

“Yes, Alex” she repeated, the aggravation clear in her voice

“ _Just double-checking,_ ” Alex chuckled “ _can never be too sure with you_ ”

“Gee, thanks,” Kara sneered sarcastically “so, what do I do here?” she asked

“ _You have lunch, you enjoy it. Simple_ ” Alex replied

“Really?” Kara sighed “that doesn’t sound too hard”

“ _It isn’t,_ ” Alex replied “ _look, got to go, we got a customer. Talk to later_ ”

“Bye,” Kara replied “love you”

“ _Love you too_ ” Alex chuckled…

******

Alex hung up the phone and looked up at Astra

“She’s going to spill something all over him isn’t she?” she asked

Astra shrugged

“Probably”


	7. Dress to Impress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! "Sight Unseen" is finally being updated, enjoy! :=)

******

Kara riffled through her clothing, feeling each small Braille tag as she read its color. She’d been through the rack twice already and still couldn’t find a color that worked. Deep down, she knew that she was just procrastinating, but still she needed help

“Kara?” Lucy’s voice called out as a knock sounded on the door “you in there?”

And there it was!

Kara hurried over as fast as possible, fumbling with the lock a bit, and then threw the door open

“Lucy! Thank god! I need your help!” she exclaimed in lieu of greeting

“I…just came over to drop off some pie,” Lucy mumbled, sounding confused “wha…oh! You got a date?” she asked “with James?”

“Yes, and yes,” Kara sighed, ranking a hand through her hair “now help me!” and if she actually stamped her foot like a child neither one of them commented on it

Lucy sighed

“Come on, you drama queen…”

******

“Kara,” Lucy groaned “we’ve been through your entire closet _twice_ , just pick something already!”

“No, it has to be perfect!” Kara insisted as she threw clothes left and right, assuming that Lucy would pick them up for her, which she did, albeit reluctantly

“Kara, my father is visiting tonight, and I told him that I was only going to step out for a few minutes to drop off some food for you. That was…,” Lucy glanced at her watch “…close to an hour ago already”

“Wait! Wait!” Kara ran her fingers around the dress, the tag told her that it was blue, the feel was like that of satin or silk (probably satin then, she couldn’t afford a silk dress). It wasn’t too short; it felt like it would stop just around her knees, with a low, but still tasteful neckline

“Perfect!” Kara declared, quickly stripping down to her underwear and throwing it on, oblivious to Lucy’s muttered exclamation of ‘ _I didn’t need to see that_ ’. Kara took a breath, enjoying the feel of the dress against her skin as she swung her hips from side to side, enjoying the _swish_ the dress made “how does it look?” she asked

Lucy was silent for a moment

“Not bad,” she finally said slowly “not bad at all. I think you’re going to knock his socks off” she declared

“Yes!” Kara hissed

“Just one last thing” Lucy announced

“What’s that?”

“We need to do something about your hair. I know you can’t see, but honestly Kara, when was the last time you really did something to it?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
